Wednesday, October 10, 2007

How Fred Did In The Debate

I think he did a fine job. He did seem a little nervous at first, but he gave a solid performance last night. I would say it was a tie between him and Rudy. Rudy does shine at these types of events. This debate was on economic issues. Most of the candidates argued the need to cut spending and taxes.

Like I said yesterday, Fred did not leave the nay-sayers in awe. He stuttered a couple of times. But he was funny and straightforward with his answers. That is enough for me.

Fred is on the right path. He can take the nomination. I think he would be the best candidate to represent the Republican party in 08.

I agree with the consensus that Rudy won the debate last night. In fact, I agree with Alexham, Leon, and others that as long as Ron Paul is in the race, Rudy comes out looking the hero. Every time the nutter from Texas denies the realities of September 11th, he sets Rudy up to take him on and win with sane America.

And yet this image remains an indelible part of last night's debate and sets up an advantage that Fred has among the front runners -- as Rudy and Romney quabbled like children over the line item veto, there was "Dad" looking down at them, the statesman between two kids.

Fred is the elephant in the room. Beyond just the solidly Republican voting record on issues like life and taxes that go beyond what the other two (or three if you count McCain) top tier candidates have, here we have an older guy standing between two younger men bickering with each other over a mundane issue like the previously unconstitutional Line Item Veto Act of 1996. Chief Justice Rehnquist, Thomas, Kennedy, Souter, and Stevens found the legislation unconstitutional. And, as Rudy correctly pointed out, he beat Bill Clinton in the Supreme Court.

It made for a very interesting dynamic to see Thompson, who would not get into the weeds and throw a lot of punches at the other guys like the second tier guys tried to do, tower over everyone else and then pull a few unexpected zingers out, calling Chris Matthews "Christopher" and turning Romney's scripted one liner around on him, calling Romney the best actor on stage.

Time will tell if Thompson can really fire himself up for this. He was not great on the first question. But as it stands, the man who the other candidates have been treating as an elephant in the room — dancing around him as best they could without too many acknowledgments of his existence until recently — proved not only is he a very good elephant on taxes, social security, national security, and business issues, but also was willing to do what few candidates are willing to do, give a real "yes" and a real "no."

That last sentence is important. That is what I have been looking for in a candidate.